What's in a Trim?
by Hammyham
Summary: As a wild Furfrou roams the streets of Lumiose City, he notices how the human owned Furfrou sport these odd fur styles and wonders why the humans love them so much and why the Furfrou tolerate them. One day he notices several trimmed Furfrou and tries to uncover the secret of what makes them more favorable to the humans than his style. What will he find out? What will he do next?


**Well, after like who knows how long, I've got another story. It popped into my head and I had to write it. I'm actually proud of myself; I wrote pretty much the whole thing in a day. So enjoy.**

* * *

_The sun beamed through the entrance of the alley. I started to open my eyes. The sound of human voices reached my ears. It was a new day. I got up from my cardboard box, stretched and headed out. Even this early in the morning there are always people on the move in this giant city they call, "Lumiose". My day was simple. Go out. Get food. Get back to the alleyway. Don't get caught. Why? Because if I get caught…it happens. I become one of them. Everyone knows them. You see them everywhere in the city. Those Furfrou who have let themselves be defiled by humans who cut off their fur coat, change its color and craft weird shapes out of it. I don't know what it is and I don't want to know. My mission is to never let myself become one of them._

* * *

_It was still early. There weren't that many people out yet. This is the time immediately after I wake up. When there aren't that many people around, they don't seem to mind me. I just walk by and they ignore me. But in the later hours, when there are more people out, people are more likely to try to shoo me away. But why? They __**never **__try to send away those Furfrou with the weird coats. What makes __**them**__ so special? Why were the humans attracted to this_?

* * *

_Every morning, I walk to the back alley of one of those places humans call, "cafes". After the morning meal, the people throw away their leftovers into big, silver cans. That's when I eat what I need to make the walk back to my alley. Same with the middle meal and the night meal. As I made my way to the café called, "Le Wow," I saw one. One of them. She looked awful. The first thing that stood out to me was her tail. I can't even tell you what it looked like, but it was the bright red that really hit me. Her legs shared the same color, as did the fur on the front of her head. But it looked weird. It looked almost like a human child's fur. The rest of the fur on her head was shaped like an oval_. _My gosh, she looked terrible. She and her human were sitting on a bench feeding the Fletchling and Pidgey. Why would she let that happen to herself?_ I couldn't look anymore. I had to leave. I turned and went on my way.

* * *

I finally made it to the café. I saw a large clock. The small line was on 9 and the large one on 12. I was right on schedule. I went to my usual can and found it full of food. I quickly began eating to make sure I'd finish before any humans showed up.

"Hey! Look at that, Xavier," I heard behind me. I looked up to see two human children. One male and one female. They were about the same height. Probably the same age. The girl wore a green shirt, blue jeans, and a pink hat, while the boy wore a white shirt, blue jeans, and a blue knit cap.

"Oh, look at that. It's a Furfrou. But it looks wild. Like a stray." I didn't react, but remained cautious. You never know what they could do.

"When we were at Friseur Furfrou a while ago, I heard some people talking about a wild Furfrou that roams around the city." The female child said.

"Aww, that sucks! He doesn't even have a cool trim like ours do." _I noticed that the children each had a Furfrou, as well. As expected, their coats had been cut, too. They looked a bit similar; each had a lot of fluffy fur from their neck to their head, but in different shapes. The boy's Furfrou had blue fur on his legs and star shapes on his tail and above his nose. His rear was completely bare. I also noticed that his ears were almost completely free of fur, minus a small amount at the bottom. The girl's Furfrou had orange fur completely covering his rear and hind legs, but his front legs were bare. He had diamond shapes in the places where the other one had stars. His ears lacked any fur. How could they live like that? How could they properly defend themselves? I was aware that humans tended to pit their Pokemon in fights against each other, so it shocked me to see that they'd actually take away their Pokemon's defenses. And they'd surely never be able to survive cold nights._

"Why don't we try to catch him, Xavier? And then we can bring him to the Pokémon Center." _The female said as she looked towards the male._

"Yeah, great idea, Yvonne. Then maybe someone'll take him and give him a nice, snazzy trim." When the boy began to move towards me, I immediately ran away. The last thing I wanted was to be captured and cut like those poor souls.

* * *

I made it to the center of the city. I was sure I'd escaped those potential Poké-nappers. Looking around, I saw another clock. The small line was on the 11 and the long line was on 4_. It wasn't yet time for my middle meal. I figured I'd go to another alley and rest until it was time to go find food. When I turned towards the closest alley, I didn't see a good sight. It was another one of them. She was sitting down surrounded by about six other people. I was sure the one standing behind her was her trainer. Her fur looked worse than the two I just saw. Nearly her entire body was covered with smooth fur except for her stomach. Her legs were purple and they all had feather-like tuffs of fur sticking out. Her chest was mainly purple as well. But the worst parts were her head, ears, and tail. Her head…I don't even know what they did, but it looked like she was wearing a human hat. But it wasn't a hat! It was actually her fur! Unlike the 2 males I just saw, not only did her ears still have fur, but they had a lot. They were thin, smooth and had an odd shape. I can't really describe them. As for her tail, it was just a purple ball of fur. I couldn't believe that the humans would make us look like __**that**__! Ridiculous! And what's even worse, the Furfrou didn't even seem to be bothered by it. As I continued to watch, I noticed that the people were petting her and giving her treats. They were saying a lot of other stuff, too, probably about her cut. What did those humans see in these retched fur cuts? And the Furfrou…she was smiling? Was she truly happy? Or was it just because they were giving her treats. No one would dare give me a treat. No more time to waste. I walked away._

* * *

_It was now that time that the humans called "noon". I left the other alley to prepare to go out for my middle meal. As I passed through the city and down the streets, I noticed that the streets were now packed with an average amount of people. I had to be careful now. When more people were out, there was less room to walk on the streets. When that happens, the last thing a human wants is a stray Furfrou like me clogging up the walking space._

"Careful dear. Don't let Princess go too fast." I heard a female voice say. A human child was walking towards me. The child was male and was being followed by who I assumed were his parents. The child had a long string in his hand which was attached to a Furfrou's neck in front of him. To be honest, I hadn't really noticed the Furfrou. I was too busy staring at the human. He looked like a Pancham, or rather, was wearing Pancham's fur. Wait, so humans not only take their Furfrou and make them look like people, but they make their offspring look like Pokémon? What is it with this strange species? I'll never understand them.

"Hey! Mommy, Daddy, look! That's what Princess looked like." _The child had stopped walking and pointed at me. I guess "Princess" was what they called their Furfrou. Poor girl, not only did she have a horrible cut, but they even gave her a name. A NAME! Speaking of her fur, it didn't look as bad as some of the others I'd seen in this day alone, but it was still pretty awful. Like the first female from this morning, her whole body was covered with fur. The bottom of her ears, feet, and oddly shaped tail were completely blue. She also had two small tuffs of blue fur on her head. It wasn't as embarrassing as it could have been, but still…ugghh. I didn't want to look at it any longer._

"Hey, come here!" The child stuck out his hand and begun to walk closer towards me.

"No, dear! That thing's a stray. Don't touch it!**"** The mother went to grab her child.

"Princess." The father simply said the Furfrou's name as it began yelling at me.

"Hey, get out of here stray! Stay away from my family!" _I was shocked. She actually yelled at me. Even though I'd done nothing to her. I turned and ran across the street so I could continue forward. I needed to get away from these people fast. All of them._

* * *

_How could she? How could she turn her back on a fellow Furfrou? Well, to be honest, I wasn't surprised. Not anymore. I wasn't always alone. I used to be part of a pack. About 5 or 6 of us there were. We all lived together on these streets and lived by the daily routine that I still live by now. But one by one, all of the pack members left. They were captured by trainers and taken on journeys, captured by random humans who didn't like the idea of a pack of stray Furfrou running around. Some were even taken by people who lived in Lumiose and kept as pets. Regardless, I've not seen any of them since. They've probably all been brainwashed like that lass back there_.

_My quick escape led me a bit off my path. I'd arrived in front of one of the popular restaurants, which were pretty much what humans called bigger cafes. I definitely wouldn't be wanted around here so I ran into the back alley. It was perfect timing, for it appeared that the humans had just dumped out their leftovers. As I helped myself to my middle meal, I looked through the window of the restaurant. Inside, low and behold I saw another traitor. A Furfrou…inside the restaurant! She reminded me of the Furfrou I'd seen earlier with the two young Poké-nappers. She had the same fluffy fur from her neck to her head. She had pink fluffs on her legs and some white fluffs on her rear. She sported 2 pink hearts where the other two had stars and diamonds. I watched her and her male trainer eat their meal. The young boy wore a blue jacket, with blue pants, and a blue hat topped with black sunglasses. But the biggest shock: he was sharing some of his food with the Furfrou! I was stunned. _

_That would have never happened to me. Maybe that's why these Furfrou put up with this crap. Maybe these other Furfrou aren't traitors. Maybe they don't care for their humans at all. Perhaps their only interested in the food. Yes! That's it. It's just for the food. So they won't have to live like me. Constantly roaming around in silver cans for human leftovers. But is it really worth it? Living with an awful fur style created for human amusement just for good food? My mind was boggled. _

* * *

_I still don't get it. I can understand wanting adequate meals. But having to live like __**that**__ in order to get them? I'm not sure if I could handle that. Some of my species are just troopers. _

_I decided to head back to my alley before for the rest of the day. Upon seeing another clock, I saw that the small line was on the 4 and the large one at 1. I figured I'd take a nap. It was also around this time that the humans began to return home. As I walked down the street, I saw them. I paused before quickly hiding behind a building. It was those people. The ones in the blue clothes who capture wild Pokémon on the city streets and lock them away. I tried to remain hidden, but was worried that they'd turn in my direction. I turned around to make a dash to the nearest alleyway. I ran down the street in the opposite direction of the capture people. Just as I turned the corner, out of nowhere, I bumped into a girl carrying some bags of food. I stood up in a daze, my eyes closed in pain. I couldn't even register what happened. _

"You, you, monster! Look what you did!" The girl hollered. "Ugh, look at this mess. Furfrou are you okay?"

_At first I was confused to hear her asking if I was okay. Then, I opened my eyes and saw that she had a Furfrou of her own…and that I'd also knocked her down. She looked very similar to the other female I'd seen in the center of the city earlier. Only her stomach didn't have fur. Her chest, legs, and tail were yellow. She also had a lot of fur on her ears, but it was curlier. But most noticeably was the hat. Or rather, the fur on her head that resembled a woman's hat. It even had a bow on it. Not only did these humans shape the fur on her head to resemble a hat, but they even added a bow. These cuts were getting worse and worse by the day._

_The human was short, rather young, wore pink shoes, and a pink shirt with a bunch of black bows on it. She appeared to be wearing extremely short jeans. I also noticed that she had a weird star device on her wrist. Her Furfrou angrily jumped at me, but I dodged just in time._

"How dare you attack my trainer! You evil brute! And you look awful! You need to get yourself a trim!"_ I was confused._

"What is a trim?" _She ignored my question and bit my leg. I shook her off and ran across the street before anyone could attempt to catch me._

* * *

In one whole day, I've learned more about my species than I have in the months I've lived like this. I learned that these weird cuts human give them are called "trims". I've learned that trims get those guys good food, access in buildings, positive attention; basically the exact opposite that I get every day. What's in a trim that I don't understand?

_I'd been blindly walking forward staring at the ground for a while now. Looking up, I realized that I'd wandered into the area where people live. Where there are no stores around. Just houses. Side by side, filled with people. I looked around, trying to find a way back home when I saw…him. He was behind a fence, lying down asleep in a smaller version of a human house. His house sat on a beautiful bed of grass. He however, was not so beautiful. In fact, it was the funniest trim I'd seen all day. His legs, tail, and most of his ears were blue, but a different blue than I'd seen earlier. There was also some…thing. Some long blue thing under his chin, but I couldn't verify what it was. He also had some odd shape of fur above his nose that matched the shape of his tail, but I couldn't tell you what that shape was. I felt sorry for the poor chap, but honestly he looked hilarious. I couldn't help myself. I began to laugh. Unfortunate of my intentions, my laughing woke him up. He stood up, got out of his house and walked towards me._

"Is there a problem?" _He asked_.

"I'm sorry. It's just…you look ridiculous. Is it really that worth it? That must be some really good food for you to actually, willingly look like that. And in public." I laughed.

"What on earth are you babbling about?"

"C'mon. That trim of yours. What? Do they give you steaks on a golden plate or something?"

"You know, you're one to talk. You're the one who's covered in dirt and mud. And your breath reeks of old food. Of course I'd expect nothing less from a trash-eating stray". My laughter was immediately drawn from my mouth.

"What?! Well…at least my fur hasn't been tainted and manipulated for the pleasure of humans." I quickly recovered and gave him a smug smile.

"At least my fur is clean so it can be pleasing to the humans. Along with everyone else for that matter. Nobody will be chasing me from their stores, that's for sure." The smile vanished.

"Huh? Well, dirty or not, at least my fur isn't in such a ridiculous style. And I don't have some…thing hanging from my chin"

"At least I don't have trash hanging from my chin." Was this guy seriously getting to me? I had had enough.

"Whatever. At least I'm free. I can go wherever I want whenever I want. And I don't have a bunch of people surrounding me everywhere I go.

"Oh my gosh, you're right. It must be so great living outside, walking around in the hot filth every morning and sleeping out in the cold filth every night. I bet you probably sleep in a cardboard box somewhere." My body began trembling. "But no, if that's what you like, keep going with it. Go, eat out of all the trash cans you want. Go wherever you want whenever you want since you have nowhere else to go. Me? Oh don't worry about me. Me and my horrible, ridiculous trim will be just fine. In fact I think I'll take my ridiculous trim inside right now and rest on my family's nice soft couch. I wouldn't want to be seen in public with it anyway. And after that, I'll have a nice fresh meal prepared just for me. And I'll eat it with all the humans who actually care about me. But I'm sure that means nothing to you. Your lonely box is probably waiting for you. Au Revior."

_And with that he walked through a small flap on the house door and vanished. My mouth hung open. I couldn't believe what just happened._

* * *

_Was he…was he right? I knew I was bit dirty, but…no! I blocked him from my mind and kept walking back to the city streets. The sooner I get home the better. I'm not even in the mood for a night meal. Without even noticing it, I bumped into one of the capture people. _

"_Hey! You're that stray that's been running around!" The man took out a net and tried to catch me. I made a mad dash across the street, but the man was in hot pursuit. I turned the corner to run lose him and, for the second time today, I ran into a young girl._

_The girl looked about the same age the children from the alley and the boy in the restaurant. She wore a black shirt, red skirt, and pink hat with a pink flower on it. The officer turned the corner and met us. Quickly thinking, I picked up the red bag that she'd dropped from our collision and set it next to her. I then sat down._

"Oh, are you okay ma'am?" The adult asked the child.

"Huh? Oh yeah I'm just fine." She responded as she got her bag and stood up.

"Is that your Furfrou? I've been chasing a stray and he just ran through this way." I didn't move a muscle, hoping the child would show mercy and just get rid of that man.

"Um…yeah. It's mine. Haven't seen a stray anywhere." She said nervously_._ I sighed with relief.

"Okay, thanks for your help then. Have a good evening." The man went off down the street. The girl stood up and adjusted her hat.

"So, you're a stray?" The girl asked. I got up and prepared to leave, but suddenly stopped to scratch my ear. This dirt was getting to me again.

"You're pretty dirty aren't you?" The girl said. Her face suddenly beamed. **"**I know! Why don't we get you a spa treatment? Look, we just so happen to be right in front of Friseur Furfrou. This is where all the Furfrou come to get groomed." I had no interest in "getting groomed", but I'd take a bath if it meant getting rid of this dirt and itch. I nodded my head "yes".

* * *

The girl spoke to an adult woman in the back who placed me in a large white tub. She rinsed my fur, lathered me with soap, and washed away months' worth of dirt. She then lifted me out of the tub and brushed my fur to its usual style.

"Thank you very much. He looks so clean and happy now." The girl who brought me said. This was it. Once the girl and I walked out the store, I'd make a dash to my alley.

"You know, we also do trims here for $500. Our trims are unparalleled in all of Kalos. What do you say, how about a trim for your handsome fellow here."

_No way! I was not here for a trim! I only wanted a bath to give those capture people a chance to get far enough away for me to leave. It would also get the regular people of the city off my back for a while since I wasn't actually dirty. A trim is __**not**__ part of the plan. _

"Well, I dunno**."** _As I prepared to leave, I saw the capture man outside. This was an issue, if he saw me leave by myself; he'd surely capture me and have me locked up. Being clean wasn't enough if I was still roaming the street alone. Whether, I actually bothered the people or not, I was still a stray. I had no choice. I turned to the young girl and nodded my head_.

"Really, you want one! Great! And I know just which one!"

The woman put me on a table in the front of the store and began brushing my fur. Then she cut off the fur around my stomach. After that, she cut and brushed and crafted my fur. I didn't even know what was going on. My eyes remained closed for the entire process. Then she put some liquid on her hands and rubbed it on my legs, chest, tail, head and the fur on my ears.

When she finished with me, she put me in front of some glass. I could see myself through it. All of the places where she'd rubbed the liquid on me were now green. My stomach was bare of fur, and the fur on my head was shaped like a hat I'd seen adult men in the city wear. The green design on my chest also looked like something I'd seen adult men wear, but I didn't know what it was called.

"Wow! He looks so handsome and stylish. I can't believe this is the same Furfrou!" The girl got down and hugged me, stroking my back. She was petting me. I'd never felt that before.

"Thank you so much! C'mon Furfrou, let's go**."** I reluctantly walked behind her.

_Well…it happened. My fur's been cut, shaped, and colored. I had a trim. I had been groomed. As we walked down the street together, I noticed something a lot more people smiled upon seeing me. Some would tell the girl_, "Oh, isn't he so stylish?" _People stopped to willingly stroke my fur. One woman even gave me some food. I believe they were called, "Poké Puffs". _

_All of this attention…it was so overwhelming and comforting at the same time. I was enveloped in a strange feeling and I liked it. But why? What was it about this trim that made everyone like me? Why didn't they like me before? I looked up to the girl asking for an answer_.

"Hm? Something wrong Furfrou?" _We both stopped walking_. "Oh, I guess you're not used to all of this. Being on the streets must have made you kind of wary of people, right?" _I nodded_. "But you don't need to worry about that anymore. You're not a stray. I'm here to take care of you now**.**"

_You mean…?_

"Oh, I almost forgot! My name's Serena."

_Serena…_

"It's getting pretty late. Why don't we stay at the hotel for the night and then head off in the morning."

_Leave the city? Well to be honest... there was no reason to stay. If Serena would be providing my food for now, it doesn't really matter anymore. Besides, I already had the trim. And to be honest…I kind of liked it. No reason to go back to being a stray and ruin a look like this. And I realized…I was still myself. Just with a different style of fur. So maybe, it wasn't the trims that made people like us. They don't change our personality and make us more likeable to the humans. After all, Serena and the other lady liked me after I had a bath even though I wasn't trimmed. And come to think of it, that little kid with the Furfrou called "Princess" seemed to like me too. He didn't try to avoid me at least. I guess the others didn't dislike my lack of a trim. It was just my stray status. And trims aren't the reason why the people like us. Maybe it's just…a bond. A normal, natural bond. And the trim simply closened that bond. But it didn't really mean anything. _

_I nodded my head, but to be honest, it was a bit of a shame. I wanted to show off my trim a bit longer._

* * *

**Sorry for so many line breaks but I figured it would be weird/confusing otherwise. **

**Just in case anyone was curious, all of the young kids in this story are meant to be different customized versions of Calem and Serena, the Pancham dressed people are a Poké Fan Family, Shauna was the girl with Debutante Furfrou, and "the people in the blue outfits "are Police Officers if that wasn't totally obvious.**

**The order of the Furfrou styles was meant to be a countdown from my least favorite to my favorite. But there were too many issues that came up, like all my least favorites being the ones I refer to as the "feminine styles", me wanting Pharaoh to be the one who insults the protagonist before he gets a trim despite it not being my 2nd favorite trim, initially making La Reine a male to have more of a "female then male" pattern but then changing it due to the femininity of the name, and other stupid things that you guys probably don't even care about. **

**But if anyone cares, and you probably don't, my list from favorite to least favorite is Dandy, La Reine, Star, Diamond, Pharaoh, Debutante, Heart, Matron, and Kabuki. **

**Hope you enjoyed it!**


End file.
